The Generals have been death ‘n’ rolling since 2002, yet this is only their third full length release. They have garnered quite the rep in their native Sweden for high octane live shows and there is a hell of a lot of piss and vinegar in “To Hell”. Like their debut “Stand Up Straight” this album was produced by the auteur of the Swedish Death Metal sound Tomas Skogsberg (do I need to name the bands?) and was split between his legendary Sunlight Studios and the two others.
With that being said this is a Ronseal album. The Generals play good rocking Death ‘n’ Roll using the late 90’s playbook that LG and the gang must have left behind in the sound booth.
This album is a raucous, rambunctious, good rocking time which mixes in the vibe of aforementioned Entombed with Versus the World era Amon Amarth and a lil bit of Jester Race too. Why not? After all isn’t Smorgasbord a popular way to feast in Sweden?
There are some corkers on here “Locate, Decapitate, Incinerate “is a raging, pummelling blast where the Death metal is turned up and the groove put on the backburner – great cheesy guitar solo as well which hits the nostalgic feels in just the right places. It’s like is it 2001 all over again.
I suppose that is it. All the right ingredients are there. Tomas is behind the desk, the HM-2’s are plugged in and the gain is turned to the max. The riffs are punchy and the drums are crisp and clear and the vocals are gravelly as fuck. However, 20 years on this sound doesn’t pack the punch that it once did.
I enjoyed the album thoroughly but it is not one that will stay with me. It felt a little like channel hopping and finding an old sitcom that you have seen many many times and letting it waft over you while you wait for something else to really pique your interest. I would like to see these guys live (FFS at the moment I would like to watch any bugger live) as I think they could certainly bring a lot of energy to a show.
Not a lot of originality though.
(6/10 Matt Mason)
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